


Coffee, Curry and Good Company

by leeshur



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Pining, Secret Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, if only coffee and curry could make others fall in love with you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-02 16:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10948632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leeshur/pseuds/leeshur
Summary: Some days, he requests for her just so she can have a break.Keeping her double-life as a maid a secret was easy enough. So, it should be easy to keep his feelings under wraps, too.Shouldn't it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This pairing needs more love. 
> 
> Paraphrased some in-game dialogue.

Some days, he requests for her just so she can have a break.

Friday was one of those days.

Leblanc was closed for the evening, the last customer managing to escape the light rainfall that followed soon after their departure. Kurusu Akira stood behind the wooden counter, apron tightly fastened as he prepared one final cup of joe for the night. A woman in a traditional maid’s costume sat opposite him, her tense body hunched over the counter. The silence of the café was drowned out by the light hissing of the coffee siphon and the soft but steady pattering of rainfall that was glancing off the café’s windowpanes.

“You shouldn’t be paying me to sit around and drink coffee, you know.” The woman sighed tiredly, watching her index finger as she slid it across the freshly wiped woodgrain of the counter.

As he poured the drink into the cup, Akira peeked at the woman from beneath his fringe. Despite him having taken off his glasses half an hour before, he could still see the woman’s figure clearly. Her eyes were tired, with dark bruises stubbornly visible beneath the makeup she’d obviously applied in a futile attempt to hide them. He lowered his eyes and watched as she continued to drag a listless finger across the counter-top. Her fingernails were ragged and bitten down the quick. Even though her exhaustion was so easy to see, her hair remained immaculately styled, coiffed into two tight pigtails with a lace headpiece resting in-between them. He bit back a sigh of worry.

“I enjoy the company.” Was his reply as he slid the slightly steaming cup over to her. He’d added some cream and three tablespoons of sugar to the drink; her favourite.

Wrapping her fingers around the warm cup, she brought it to her lips and blew. It took all of his self-restraint to not watch her lightly-glossed lips as they pursed into pseudo-kiss before she took a sip. Her eyes closed in, what he hoped was bliss (he’d put a little love into that particular cup) and her body seemed to unwind from whatever stress had caused her to be so tense earlier on in the evening.

“At least let me help with the washing up.” She urged, delicately placing her cup back onto the counter.

Bustling behind the counter, Akira began to tidy up his workspace. Her comment made him chuckle, mouth adopting a wry grin. “No chance, Sadayo. I don’t want to pull the ‘master’ card, but you’re under strict orders not to help me tonight.”

Sadayo frowned, lips forming a little moue of annoyance before sighing again. “Fine.” She took another sip at her coffee, eyes following him as he worked.

“Sakura-san trusts you to run the café on your own now, doesn’t he?”

Pausing in his ministrations, he nodded. “Yeah. Boss wasn’t feeling too well today, so I offered to take over the evening shift once I got home.”

“So… I’m guessing that he also taught you how to make such good coffee too, huh? Or did you take the initiative and learn on your own?” she teased.

“A bit of column A and a bit of column B. I’m glad to hear that you think my coffee’s good, though. Maybe I’ll cook you some curry next time.” He smiled, eyes warm as he wiped down the front of his apron with his hands.

The sudden ringing of Sadayo’s phone broke the cosy silence of the café. Pulling it out of one of her apron pockets, she glanced at the screen and visibly cringed. Her eyes shot to Akira’s sheepishly. Getting the hint, he picked up her now empty cup and headed over to the kitchen sink. Turning on the faucet, he began to wash the stacked dishes as loudly as he could in an attempt to give her some privacy, metal cutlery occasionally clacking against ceramic. Despite his best efforts, he wasn’t able to drown her out completely.

“…How much?! I can’t…”

Akira frowned as he firmly scrubbed at a curry-stained plate. Sadayo had mentioned needing the money for her sister’s hospital expenses, but she’d been uncomfortable during that past conversation. From her previous visits, he’d also gleaned that she seemed to get weekly calls demanding more money. Something wasn’t right. Hospitals didn’t operate that way.

He brooded over this until he heard Sadayo addressing him. “… I’m done with my phonecall. You can come back now.” Her voice lacked the previous warmth that had been apparent prior to the call.

Drying the last cup and putting it in place, he sauntered back behind the counter, badly feigning nonchalance. She glanced at him and seemed to suss out the question he was too polite to ask.

“…That was the hospital. Seems like my sister’s treatments were more expensive than they initially thought. I’m going to have to take on more shifts.” She groaned in frustration, placing her face into her hands.

“I’ll request for you more, if that’ll help.” Akira offered, wishing he could do more. He knew that she wasn’t being truthful, but didn’t want to call her out on it. The ball was in her court.

Lifting up her head, she beamed at him but her eyes were still dull. “That would really help. My boss has been quite reluctant to give me more shifts. According to him, he prioritises younger women and since I’m regarded as ‘over the hill’, that’s why I don’t get requested as often.”

Fiddling with an errant strand of his hair, Akira frowned. “How rude.”

“Right?! He didn’t have to say that to my face. Age has nothing to do with cleaning a room.” She agreed, tone vehement. “And I think I look damn good for my age, if I do say so myself. The girls in my neighbourhood always tell me I’m pretty.”

She leaned forward across the counter, eyes imploring. “Master, would you please give me your honest opinion? I look pretty good as a maid, don’t I?”

 _God yes. You do._ Supplied his mind as his eyes met hers. He wanted to tell her that she looked great both as a maid and in her casual-wear. He’d wanted to tell her this and so much more for months. Heart beating frenetically in his chest, he willed himself not to stutter.

“You look great.” He supplied, trying to keep his tone casual and unassuming as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Her face broke into a genuine smile and Akira’s heart momentarily skipped before it began to beat twice as fast, as if to compensate for its mistake.

“I guess I’ll take your word for it!” she replied, voice cheerful. She watched him, eyes thoughtful as if she was deliberating on something.

“Kurusu-kun, I…” she began.

Curious, Akira only hummed in response, encouraging her to continue.

“I wanted to tell you that—“ She paused, shaking her head forcefully before stiffly easing herself off of her barstool. It squeaked loudly in protest.

“You alright?” Akira asked, alarmed at her sudden change in mood.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to head home now, okay? Thanks for the coffee, I really needed a break.” Her tone of voice was perfunctory, as if she were reciting a script. Grabbing her bag, she began to walk purposefully towards the front door of the café. Akira followed, almost tripping over his own feet as he tried to keep up with her. He grabbed a sitting umbrella from the stand by the door.

“Let me walk you to your car at least. It’s raining and dark outside.” He offered, resisting the urge to reach out to her.

She shook her head again, lips tight and eyes steely. “I’ll be okay. My car’s not far and I think I need some alone time, anyway.”

The weather had gotten worse over the period of Sadayo’s stay at the café. Bullets of rain were cascading from the sky and Akira could hear the rumblings of thunder that often preceded a coming storm. He felt uncomfortable leaving Sadayo alone, but her overall demeanour was weird and he didn’t want to make the situation worse. Sighing, he pressed the handle of the umbrella into her free hand. As their fingers briefly brushed against each other, he willed himself not to blush or otherwise make a fool of himself. Even though the darkness outside and the dimness of Leblanc’s lights probably wouldn’t illuminate his embarrassment, he didn’t want to risk it.

“Stay safe.” He said in resignation, before opening the café’s door. Almost immediately, the warmth of the room began to leech out and was replaced by cold air. Nodding her thanks, Sadayo stepped out of the café and opened up the floral-patterned umbrella before walking out into the night. Akira let the door slam in his face, which was punctuated by a loud, almost mocking chime of the bell. Locking the door and rubbing at his face, he exhaled shakily.

The noisy pitter-patter of paws travelling downstairs drew his attention. Turning around, he spied a small feline figure at the bottom of the stairs.

  _I forgot about Morgana. Shit._

He tucked his hands back into his pockets. He knew what was coming next and waited, face and overall posture miserable.

“Joker… You’ve got it bad.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tysm for the lovely comments, kudos and bookmarks!
> 
> this chapter's quite short (sorry!), but i'm a bit sick today. hopefully the angsty feels make up for its length.

_Stay calm. You can salvage this._

Face impassive, Akira stared down the ‘cat’ who was slowly approaching, paws delicately tapping against the café tiles.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mona.”

Stopping a few centimetres away from Akira's legs, Morgana looked up at him, blue eyes steady. It was one of his rare, almost unnerving stares. The kind of stare that made Akira feel like his almost preternatural ability to believably bluff his way to victory was useless.

He may’ve been good at negotiating with Shadows in the Metaverse, but Morgana was on a completely different level. He was almost always able to see right through him. Most of the time, Akira appreciated that. Having someone that could understand him, even during times when he hadn’t uttered a word, was comforting.

Now? Now it was a pain in the ass.

“So… you’re telling me that what I just saw and heard _didn’t_ look like something from out of a romance movie that Lady Ann would force us to watch? Colour me surprised.” was Morgana's eventual reply.

Shrugging, Akira moved away from the door and back behind the counter. He began to fiddle with his apron straps. Once again, he’d tied them too tightly together.

Gritting his teeth, he began to pick at the particularly stubborn knot behind his waist. “That’s not what happened. At all.”

“Now you’re being defensive.” Morgana’s voice was infuriatingly smug.

“Do we _really_ have to talk about this tonight?”

“We kinda do, yeah.”

With a defeated sigh, Akira hung the now-free apron back onto its hook. Putting on his glasses, he gave the café a discerning once-over, making sure that everything was clean and in its place for the following day. Once satisfied, with a half-hearted beckon, he motioned to Morgana.

“Well, seeing as though you’re not really giving me a choice… I’d rather have this uncomfortable discussion upstairs, if that’s okay with you.”

Not waiting for Morgana to respond, he switched off the main light-switch to the café before heading upstairs, steps and mood heavy. Morgana weaved in-between Akira’s legs, almost making him trip, before leaping up the staircase, three steps at a time.

“Show off.”

“Implying you didn’t do the same thing at Kamoshida’s castle.”

“Touché.”

\--

Sitting heavily on his bed and no longer bespectacled, Akira waited in his pyjamas. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation in the slightest, but he knew that Morgana wouldn’t let it sit for a litany of (probably sensible) reasons.

“What you’re doing is dangerous, Joker.”

_He really isn’t pulling any punches about this, shit._

He chose to feign ignorance. “What dangerous thing am I doing?”

Morgana glowered at him from the floor, tail swishing left and right in agitation.

“I’ve practically been glued to your side — or more accurately — your bag for a few months now.” He groused, sitting up on his haunches. He paused and began to lick delicately at a paw before continuing.

“After all this time, I think I’m qualified enough to say that I know you quite well, so stop with this whole evasive act. Stop lying. To me and to yourself, for that matter.”

“I’m not lying.” Akira lied.

Growling in frustration, Morgana began to pace around in a circle, fur standing on end.

“You are! You like her. It’s not even up for debate at this point. I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think she can’t see, both here and at school! It’s the same way I look at—!”

Choking, he paused mid-step, one leg still held aloft. Akira raised a brow questioningly.

“—A-anyway, it’s dangerous! She’s your teacher. Even if she felt the same way, your whole relationship would be built on an incredibly huge amount of risk! This isn’t the Metaverse, it’s reality! If you got caught, she’d probably lose her job and we’d lose you!” he shouted.

Pushing his guilty conscience to the side, Akira idly wondered if Morgana’s meowing could be heard over the storm that was still raging outside.  

“It’s like… it’s like you’ve forgotten that you’re still on probation. I know you’ve got a taste for danger, but this is too extreme, even for you. You need to nip this in the bud before it gets worse.”

Wincing, Akira looked away from Morgana and focused his gaze on the decorative ramen bowl that Ryuji had given him a few weeks ago.

“You know that I’m right about this, Akira.”

He winced again at the use of his actual name. Being chastised by a cat, (or a being that looked like a cat) was very sobering.

“It’s just a dumb crush, that’s all. It’ll pass.” He supplied quietly.

In-between the howls of wind and rain that rattled the attic windows, sporadic flashes of lightning illuminated the gloomy darkness of the room.

“Do you really believe that?” Morgana’s eyes and voice were pitying now, and it was almost too much to bear.

He thought of the rare times when he was able to make Sadayo smile. He thought of the times when she’d fallen asleep mid-conversation at the counter of Leblanc. He thought of the times when she’d worried about him not looking after himself properly, even though she herself looked like she was subsisting on instant ramen and less than four hours of sleep.

“I do.” He lied.


End file.
